Now this, this was a month. Lots of really cool decks came and went on eBay in November. Oh sure there was the usual array of Hawks and McGills etc, but I found some really good tack, some stuff that hardly ever comes up. Some months can feel like a real chore, but I’m excited to do it this month!
This month the column is brought to you by the sounds of the Hollywood Blondes and the refreshing taste of Bombardier ale. Good stuff. If you are ever in Chicago, stop by the Globe pub on Irving Park. Lots of great English beers and the food isn’t bad either.
Late 70s/early80s.
First up, we have this Z-Flex Jay Adams from 1976ish. Undrilled and mint apparently. Do other people find these as dull as I do? Why do I put them in? For some kind of historical perspective I guess. They normally make really good coin for 70s decks. The only competition would be the Dogtown stuff guess. The auction ended at $1,301.
And here’s another Z-Flex, this one being the Shogo Kubo Z-Woody. It was the same seller as the deck above. Recognize the floor? You guessed it; it’s undrilled and mint. $1,358.
Here we have a Logan Earth Ski Torger Johnson model from 1975ish. From the same seller again. Drilled, but never set up. I think Gravity have some Logan Earth Ski reissues that look killer actually. $711.
Mid 80s
This is a Dogtown Ben Schroeder “Big Ben” model from 1988. The graphics were by Lance Mountain. I really love this deck. It has the classic Dogtown graphic elements: the log in the cross, and the feathers, but it incorporates the Big Ben clock graphic beautifully. It is completely flawless according to the seller. Nice. $250. Steal.
Let’s look at a couple of G&S Neil Blenders. First up is the “snake and lattice” graphic from 1984. Common wisdom is that it’s his first graphic, but it’s actually his second. Still, it’s rare as hell, and very nice in this pink dip. The seller waffles on about digging it out of the attic but not having any skills. Dude. Stick with it would ya? Nothing that’s worth doing comes easy. Of course, looking at how virgin the board looks, I guess he didn’t have any skills back then either. It has Tracker trucks and G7S wheels. The tail dome, rails and nose guard have kept the board in great condition. $305. Another steal.
And here are two more Blenders. They are the “faces” graphic from 1987. One in yellow and white and the other in yellow and black. Both are in very nice, but not mint condition. It’s one of his more popular decks, but it still doesn’t come up that often. Two in one month is unusual. The difference in prices just illustrates the difference a good colorway makes. $351 for the white one and $585 for the black one.
This is the Alva Bill Danforth “Circle of Skulls” model from 1987. Very rare, particularly in this condition. It’s his second pro model, the first being the “misfits” model from Madrid. Personally I think the graphic blows, and I much prefer the Nomad graphic on the mini model, but I’m in the minority. It went for $455.
Now this, this is superb. It’s the Blockhead Notch Nose from 1987. It’s a team model, and never comes up. This one is from Jeff Madrid’s private collection. The color way is exquisite. Everything is right here. A very highly sought after deck, and the fact that it only went for $564 shocks me. Deck of the month? Well it would be if it weren’t for the deck below it.
Wow. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better than the Blockhead we get a Death-Box Pete Dossett from 1989. Who? I hear a million American voices say. Well, Death-Box was the biggest European company in the late 80s, based in London. They had some great European pros on there, none bigger than Pete Dossett, the English Tony Hawk. Death-Box later rebranded themselves as Flip in the mid 90s. Anyway, Death-Box decks are rare as hell, because their warehouse burned down or was flooded or something like that, so supplies of their decks were very limited. All the decks are rare, and the Dossett “Mr. Punch” models are the rarest of the rare. $415. Damn, why aren’t I rich? It is my Deck of the Month for November.
We have lots of G&S decks this month. This is the G&S Doug Smith from 89. A very highly sought after deck from a not too well known vert skater. Clean graphic, awesome on the white paint. It’s a very underrated graphic that is climbing in price. $355 is about right I’d say.
This is a Dogtown Eric Dressen “street scene” from 1987. There are some nice features on this deck, including the front wheel wells, and the blunt nose for the wall tricks that were popular at the time. Dig the scalloped “Natas” rails. They were a nice idea, but turned razor sharp when slid on a few times. The buyer won this with a $450 BIN.
This is a classic Gator. Just classic. Iconic says the seller. Yes say I. The pink and black screams 80s And to top it off it’s the first model too: dig the front AND back wheel wells. Clean and rockin’ and $1,025.
Yes, we all know that Claus Grabke rode for Powell before he went to Madrid (and then Santa Cruz), and that they issued a pro model for him in very limited numbers (maybe 50 decks) that he wasn’t happy with, and he left shortly after. BUT I’ve never actually seen one on eBay before, but here one is, living proof. Or it might be. Look, I’m not here to stir up shit, but this deck looks completely the wrong shape for a Powell pig of the era (1985). This is far too long and skinny, and what’s with the double-drilled nose? Something just doesn’t feel right about this deck. If you look at AOS, you’ll see another example of the Powell Grabke, but the one there looks right: classic Powell wheel wells, the correct shape etc. It went for a best offer price of $425. If anyone has more info, please share.
And here’s another Claus Grabke, this one being the “Holding back time” graphic from 1989. A year or so ago you could get this at any number of online stores for under $100, and in better colorways than this. Oh how things have changed. This very pedestrian looking deck went for $405. I don’t get it.
When did Jason Jessee become the icon for 80s skating? I’m not sure, but his decks routinely sell for higher than prices than almost any other pro from that era. I guess it was the perfect meeting of enigmatic punk rock skater with the punk rock company (Santa Cruz), combined with awesome graphics by the best skate artist (Jim Phillips). So here are 4 Jason models. The first three are Neptunes, the last is the V8.
This is the Neptune sharktail model, which is the first and rarest of the Neptunes. It looks to be in very good condition, and the color scheme is wonderful and bright. I actually prefer this version of the graphic with the shark, SC moon, and no tattoos. It went for $811, which seems very low to me.
Here is the very deck that was featured in Thrasher’s Product Patrol in 1988. It was purchased directly from Jake Phelps apparently. It has a red stain and purple tattoos and is NOS, but not mint, having a few light scratches etc. The story must have inflated the price, because it went for $2,225, three times more than the sharktail above. I think it looks very busy actually. Fucking crazy.
And here’s another “regular” Neptune. Now, I do think this one is very handsome. The green stain is far better than the red stain, and the darker purple works better. Yes, that is green stain. It looks natural, but up close you can see it’s green. It is a stunning deck, and one of the best colorways I’ve ever seen on the Neptune. This one went for $2,550.
And here is the Jessee V8. A very obvious and generic graphic IMHO, but motor heads love it I guess. Even the reissue goes for big cash, so it should come as no surprise that this original on grey stain went for $1,525. Wow.
Here’s a Circle A Joe Lopes “Monopoly” deck from 1989. “Super rare and classic graphics” says the seller. I concur. The “Free Parking” spot has the Lopes barbecue graphic on it, and all of the properties have skate related names like Grosso Gulch and Blender Blvd. Funny stuff. $275.
This is another deck from Jeff Madrid’s private collection. It is the “X Team Rider” deck from 1985. After John Lucero left for the greener pastures of Schmitt Stix, Madrid kept the graphic as a team deck. It’s an absolutely classic graphic, but the color scheme leaves me cold. It looks weak and cheap on the white for some reason. $429.
Now this, this is fucking retarded. I normally put all of the reissues at the end, but this is just too odd. Here we have two Lance Mountain Future Primitive decks in silver. One is an original, and one is the reissue. One went for $179 and the other went for $249. Can you guess which is which? Yup, that’s right, the reissue went for $70 more than the original, despite the front wheel wells and far superior shape. Of course, the problem might be that the original just sold for a really low price rather than the reissue was high. I guess it just slipped between the cracks or something. Bargains can happen.
Here is a Zorlac Donny Myhre alligator graphic from 1990. It has the red bat background on an orange stain. He’s from Florida, hence the alligator graphic. It’s from the California Zorlac years I think. Uninspired, but popular. $283.
Yup, this is a crap graphic, but it’s a deck you don’t see very often and from a well-loved early 80s pro to boot. It’s a Steve Olson Skates SOS model from 1984. He had his own company for a short time between Santa Cruz and Skull Skates, called Steve Olson Skates, hence SOS. It is complete with Indys and Sims Street wheels. It’s a real rarity, but the generic graphics hurt it. $315.
Man, this thing has so much plastic and the colors are so well matched that it looks like a Nash at first glance. It’s actually a Sims Jeff Phillips “breakout” from 1985ish. It’s early, you can tell because of the front and back wheel wells. The color scheme is neon aqua and lavender on a black paint, and the owner pimped it out with aqua Trackers with black copers, aqua rails, nose guard, tail guard and mini rails, but then he added red Kryptonics. It’s a crazy looking complete, obviously built by a madman with very strong legs. $325 seems like a complete steal, but the shipping was probably $10 thousand because it’s so damned heavy.
Remember the mid 80s Kryptonics decks? They always had a full-page ad at the end of Thrasher, and it was like their artists just didn’t get it. VCJ did skulls, but they were understated and classic. The Kryptonics artists ran with the skull motif but overdid it, putting blood and gore, exploding heads and stomachs. Much like the crappy fake skateboard company spoofed at the beginning of Future Primitive. Here’s a typical example. It’s the Ripstik 3 “end of the feast”. The original Ripstik featured a vulture plucking the eye out of a skull, complete with much blood. I guess this is the skull’s revenge. Retarded, but rare. How rare? $1,800. Yup, you read that right.
If Per Welinder could have a freestyle AND street deck featuring the same graphics, then so could Bob Schmeltzer damnit! This is his Brand X street deck, with graphics straight from the Lords of the New Church. It is a great shape though, and the baby wheel-wells are a nice touch. $425.
The Santa Cruz Rick “Spidey” Demontrond! Baby blue dip, bright popping graphics. It’s a great colorway for this graphic, and even though it is used it still fetched $358. Santa Cruz is supposed to reissue this graphic. I hope they do it in this colorway, and don’t fuck it up with that grey on grey crap.
I have nothing interesting to say about this deck anymore. It is the Powell Peralta Mike Vallely from 1988. It is in a stunning metallic silver paint and is signed by Mike on the topside. Actually, Mike’s signature is so large on the top side that it completely ruins the deck, but it still went for $1,100.
90s-today
Quick, name this deck. You can’t can you? It’s a Santa Cruz Bod Boyle “speed racer” from 1991. It’s mint and pretty rare. Of course not too many people collect Bods, but those that do value this one, believe me. $330.
I was going to ditch this deck, but something made me keep it. I HATE the graphic, but 90s Mullens are always unusual and rare. This is a SMA (Rocco Division)/World Industries Mullen “dog food” from 1990. The horse is in heaven, having been made into dog food. Early versions had a top graphic featuring the same horse head but on a gluepot, but this one doesn’t. It still went for $513 though.
It’s time for the Santa Cruz Jason Jessee reissue. First is the “Guadalupe” deck. It came with either a blue or green cloak. The blue appears to be rarer. $305.
And here is the Neptune reissue. There were many different colorways for this graphic, but this might be the best. $330. I had this exact deck an sold it for $200. Oh well.
Here we have a Bulldog Skates “car paint big foot”? I’m guessing that it is a custom graphic done on the Bigfoot 2 shape? Apparently there were only 22 made. Anyway, the muted green paint is a nice touch, and the graphic is simple. Wes signed it on the tail. $650.
And finally this month we have this Bulldog Skates/LA Ink combo deck that was auctioned off to raise funds for the Tony Hawk Foundation for public skateparks. It’s the brainchild of Kat Von D of the TV show LA Ink, and Wes Humpston from Bulldog and Dogtown. The art was done by both artists on the BigFoot 2 shape and has been clear coated to protect the artwork. Personally I think it looks like crap, but it’s for a god cause and raised $3,300 so what do I know?
See ya next month, hopefully with another great haul of memories
-Neil
